Hey Editors, Did You Know You Can Get PR Flacks to Buy You a Puppy?

Last week Shauna Bass, entertainment director of OK! magazine, lost her beloved Pomeranian Simba to an unnamed illness. As often happens in these situations, Bass was stuck with a huge vet bill on top of her enormous grief. Maybe OK! mag doesn’t pay very well, because Bass then solicited $5k in donations to cover her costs via an IndieGoGo page. Additional donations “will also be put towards the costs of buying a new dog.”

As Gawker pointed out, most of the $5,125 raised to date came from PR people whose job it is to get their clients on the pages of magazines like OK! Gawker felt that was a pretty blatant violation of journalism ethics. Gawker was probably right.

Our biggest complaint, however, is that Bass, who clearly can not afford emergency veterinary care, is planning on BUYING another dog. For the cost of a new Pomeranian puppy, she could rescue a dog from a shelter and have plenty of cabbage left over for vet bills. A dog like little Bella, pictured left, a 2-year-old Pomeranian saved from euthanasia at the pound by One Dog Rescue in Calabasas and now desperately in need of a home.

Bella doesn’t have any fancy papers from a breeder, but she does have a lot of love to give, and we think that’s the better option.